RUPERT, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) – The first week of high school football practice is over, but before the first week of practice came to a close, the Minico Spartans hosted an event Saturday where they gave women in the community a chance to get involved in the program by holding the Spartan Football Women’s Huddle.
In recent years, the popularity of football among women has increased dramatically and the Spartan football program wanted to tap into that market here in the Magic Valley with its women’s huddle event.
“One of my goals for this event is to create connections. Most of these young men have a dad, uncle, older brother, someone who played football, so there’s an automatic connection and moms, girlfriends, sisters will ask, ‘Hey, what about us?’ So I wanted to give them an opportunity to see in some way what their young man goes through on a daily basis,” said Sherm Blaser, Minico head coach.
“And that’s exactly what the day brought, because it started with a team meeting. Then we went to the practice field to warm up and do a few exercises, under the guidance of the players, of course.
And an experienced defensive back spoke of being on the other side of the action for a day.
“It feels pretty weird. I’m used to being the player here and not coaching anyone, but I feel like we’re coaching them pretty well,” said veteran defensive back Dominic Garza.
Garza’s mother was one of many women who really enjoyed the fun and relaxed nature of the event and enjoyed the day, and she credits her children with being the driving force for her.
“My kids are my everything. Being out here with them and showing them that I’m trying to do my best and coming out and seeing what they’re doing shows a good work ethic and that I care about what they do,” said Dawn Garza, Dom’s mother.
After general drills, practice was broken down by position and mothers, sisters, girlfriends and cheerleaders learned more about the position their young men play before the day ended with the players tackling on some mats.
“It was an incredible experience. This is the second year this coach has done this for the moms. Last year was different than this year, except for the tackling, of course. But it was pretty cool to learn everything my son does here and how hard he works,” said Dawn Garza.
Minico’s first football game is Friday at home against Skyview and you can expect to see many of the ladies who participated in the women’s assembly on game night, either in the stands or on the field as cheerleaders.
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